Tourism advocates and French American cultural associations in Lafayette Parish are calling for an end to the U.S. travel ban against non-essential travelers from the European Union even as France on Friday became the latest European country to ban unvaccinated American travelers, following recent EU recommendations in the wake of the recent COVID spike in the United States.
“Here is our proposition: If we think that the vaccines work, and we know they work, it makes sense for the U.S. to allow non-essential vaccinated travelers from Europe to come here,” said Ben Berthelot, president of Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission. “International travel is the fastest-growing market for us in Lafayette, so there are no questions that we are seeing a hit on this.”
In mid-June, the European Commission added the United States to its “green list,” permitting arrivals in the countries of the EU of even unvaccinated American travelers. But in the summer, the Biden administration resisted mounting pressure by allies and travel advocates to reciprocate, maintaining the policy stated in the first place by the Trump Administration in March 2020.
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Last week, the White House said it is still examining the current restrictions that do not allow non-essential travelers, including individuals with a valid visa or who are fully vaccinated, to come to the United States if they have been in one of the 26 European countries of the Schengen Area in the previous 14 days.
“For us, Canadian travelers are always No. 1 one, but No. 2 are from France, and three and four are Germany and the UK,” Berthelot said. “The natural connection we have with the French-speaking countries and Europe has been negatively influenced by this.”
According to a 2020 Census Bureau American Community Survey report, more than 1.2 million people in the United States speak French at home. According to the 2010 Census, the total French-speaking population in Lafayette Parish was 20,769, nearly 10% of the population of the parish.
“It seems pretty clear that on both sides they are thinking about what they believe is their own best personal interest,” said Matt Mick, public information officer for the Council For The Development Of French in Louisiana. “But I hope we can mitigate COVID-19 soon, and fully resume the kind of cooperation we always had before the pandemic.”
As a state-run agency, CODOFIL promotes Louisiana’s francophone communities through scholarships, French immersion, and other programs that sometimes require them to sponsor visas for foreign workers from France, including teachers and educators in Lafayette Parish.
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Last year, the travel ban posed serious problems for French immersion schools, Mick said. In 2019, there were 65 French-speaking teachers brought into the state, part of an international recruitment program. “We were able to get an exemption to the travel ban for the teachers we sponsored this year,” Mick added. “As soon as we understood we could apply for it, we pushed on that with our contacts at the State Department and the French Embassy in the U.S., and it worked.”
Pressured by diplomatic efforts, the Biden administration gradually strengthened the program that allows European visa holders or applicants to apply for a “National Interest Exemption” to the travel restrictions. For some categories, such as foreign students and educators, the NIE can now be automatically approved.
“Our incoming J-1's from France this fall semester received their NIE automatically,” confirmed Rose Honegger, associate director of global engagement at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Office of International Affairs. “The US/EU Travel Ban has not really affected our institution.”
But the ban is still affecting so many others. According to the current policy, foreign investors, and skilled workers with E2, L1, H1B, and O1 visas from Europe are unable to re-enter Louisiana, where they may live, pay taxes, and have families, once they fly back to their countries of origin. Some are postponing leaving the United States because they fear remaining locked out afterward. Members of families of these individuals are not allowed to enter the United States, even if they are vaccinated.
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“At a psychological and personal level, knowing that you can’t come back to France because then you won’t be able to come back to the U.S. can be painful,” said Emilie Georget, executive director at the Alliance Française de La Nouvelle-Orléans. "The visa holders live and work here."
The alliance is a leading provider of French language and culture education in Louisiana. Most of the exchange programs are on standby because of the travel restrictions.
"The ban is an obstacle for us,” Georget said. "We are willing to bring to the U.S. new persons happy to share with the communities across the state their French background as soon as the travel restrictions are lifted.”
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control data shows that more than 70% of the European Union’s adult population has been fully vaccinated. More than 64% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control database.
“The travel ban seriously harms vital economic and human ties, at a time when they’re most needed,” Stavros Lambrinidis, the European Ambassador to the United States said Aug. 31 in a Twitter post.
“I could not agree more,” retweeted Philippe Etienne, the French Ambassador to the United States. “We would really think the time is ripe for allowing vaccinated Europeans again into the U.S.,” Étienne recently added in an interview with GBH, an NPR-affiliated radio station in Boston.
In Louisiana, the travel restrictions against Europe have already affected tourism, too.
Spending in Lafayette Parish remains high, according to the latest data from the Lafayette Economic Development Authority. But the 2020 Louisiana Visitor Volume and Spending Report showed that the overall spending in the state by international travelers – data that includes transportation, lodging, food and beverage, and shopping -- dropped by 78% in 2020 compared to 2019. According to the Louisiana Spending Parishes 2020 Final Report, the Lafayette area’s total employment rate decreased by 6%, while leisure jobs dropped by 13% in 2020 compared to the previous year.
"We're planning to participate in a tourism-related conference in Paris in October and another in March," said Mick from CODOFIL. "Now that the rules changed again, we have to adapt and understand how to prepare for them."
Not everyone is pessimistic, though.
“We did twice the visitors in August 2021 compared to 2020,” said David Cheramie, CEO of Bayou Vermilionville District. “It is still not even near to where we before the pandemic. But I think it gets better. It is impossible to stop travel.”
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